Pharmaceutical companies have long handed out free drug samples as a way to promote their products directly to physicians. Although watchdogs have estimated that the total retail price of freebies exceeds $18 billion per year (N. Engl. J. Med. 357, 673–681, 2007), the industry has traditionally kept such information a closely guarded secret. Thanks to the new US healthcare bill, however, starting in 2012 pharma firms will be compelled to disclose their giveaways.

“Samples are a very important marketing tool,” says Allan Coukell, director of the Pew Prescription Project. “This [disclosure] will allow policymakers to get a better picture of what's clearly one driver of prescribing practices and of costs.”

Ahead of the law change, several US-based companies voluntarily reported their donations from 2007 to Congress. Some companies counted samples by dose, whereas others counted by unit; prices are based on either market price or wholesale cost.